Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Southern Iraq Escapes Most Of The Violence Seen In Rest Of Country

As security has deteriorated in northern and central Iraq
the south has not been saved. Al Qaeda in Iraq has launched a sustained
campaign to bomb major cities at least once a month in southern Iraq. Babil
province with its mixed population has seen constant insurgent activity. Due to
the sectarian attacks upon Shiites people have begun retaliatory attacks upon Sunnis
in Basra as well. Despite all that most of the population in the south has not
witnessed the violence seen in the rest of the country.

(Wikipedia)

Militant activity was at a low level in the south at the
beginning of the year. There were 21 attacks in January, 12 in February, 20 in
March, 29 in April, 21 in May, and 24 in June. Of those 127 incidents, 79 were
in Babil province. Almost all of those were concentrated in the north where
Sunnis predominate in places like Jurf al-Sakhr, 17, Musayab, 15, Iskandiriya,
9, Alexandria, 8, Jbalah, 7, reaching down to Hillah, 8. That led to 150 deaths
almost all of which were regular civilians. Basra was the next biggest target
with 16 incidents from January to June. The deadliest were car bombs. March 17,
two went off in Basra city leaving 10 dead and 27 wounded. May 20 two more
detonated in the city with 13 killed and 50 wounded. June 16 an additional
two car bombs exploded with 4 dead and 6 wounded. There were also a number
of smaller incidents in the province, some with a sectarian hue such as the assassination of a Sunni professor on January 31, a Sunni cleric who was a member of the
Basra provincial council being shot in Abu Kaseeb on May 12 and another imam
shot in that city on May 18. Additionally, a sticky bomb killed a driver on
March 21, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off in Zubayr on March 31 with two wounded, and another in Basra city on April 18 leaving three
wounded, two shootings on April 26 one of which led to the black rights activist getting killed, a coast guard officer was murdered by a sticky
bomb on May 6, and there were six separate people gunned down on June 29
in Basra city. Additional targets over the first six months included Wasit, 11
attacks, Karbala, 10, Qadisiyah, 4, and Dhi Qar, Maysan, and Najaf with two
each. Car bombs were the favorite method used striking Karbala on January 5, threetimes on January 17, February 8, April 29, Wasit
on February 28, April 16, June 16, Qadisiyah on March 1 and
April 29, Dhi Qar on April 15 and June 16, Najaf on April 25 and June 16, and Maysan on April 29. That meant every southern
province was hit at least once in the beginning of the year with the exception
of Muthanna. In total, those car bombs left 51 killed and 343 wounded. These
attacks were all probably the work of Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). As the year
progressed many of these car bombs coincided with similar attacks throughout
the country. On May 20 for example, not only was Babil and Basra bombed, but so
was Diyala, Ninewa, Salahaddin, and Baghdad leaving at least 72 or more dead. There
was a similar wave of attacks on June 16 in Wasit, Basra, Babil, Dhi Qar, Najaf
in the south, Baghdad in the center, and Ninewa, Tami, and Salahaddin in the
north resulting in a minimum of 36 deaths.

(IraqSlogger)

Security Incidents
Jan.-Jun 2013 Southern Iraq

Month

City & # of Incidents

Province & # of Incidents

Type of Attack/#

Killed

Wounded

January

21 Incidents

Babil 14

Car Bombs 9

45 Killed

129 Wounded

Karbala 5

Karbala 6

Gunfire 6

4 Police

Jurf al-Sakhr 4

Basra

Bombs/IEDs 4

4 Soldiers

Musayab 3

Mortar 2

Iskandiriya 2

Roadside Bomb

Alexandria

Basra

Hillah

Imam Aoun

Mahawil

Qasim

February

12 Incidents

Babil 9

Gunfire 5

23 Killed

52 Wounded

Jurf al-Sakhr 3

Wasit 2

Car Bombs 4

2 Police

5 Police

Musayab 3

Karbala

Roadside Bomb

Shomali 2

Rockets

Aziziya

Sticky Bomb

Bahbahan

Hindiya

Kut

March

20 Incidents

Babil 12

Car Bombs 7

59 Killed

156 Wounded

Jurf al-Sakhr 4

Basra 4

Gunfire 6

4-18 Police

Basra 3

Wasit 2

IEDs 5

1-15 Soldiers

Alexandria 2

Karbala

Sticky Bombs 2

5 Sons of Iraq

Jbalah 2

Qadisiyah

Suicide Bombers 2

Karbala 2

Stabbing

Kut 2

Musayab 2

Diwaniya

Hillah

Iskandiriya

Zubayr

April

29 Incidents

Babil 15

Car Bombs 13

51 Killed

155 Wounded

Musayab 4

Basra 4

Gunfire 9

2 Police

4 Police

Alexandria 3

Wasit 3

Roadside Bombs 5

2 Soldiers

1 Soldier

Jurf al-Sakhr 3

Qadisiayh 2

Mortar 2

Basra 2

Dhi Qar

IED

Kut 2

Karbala

Mahawil 2

Maysan

Amarah

Najaf

Djail

Diwaniya

Hillah

Iskandiriya

Jbalah

Karbala

Najaf

Nasiriyah

Shatt al-Arab

Shomali

Zubayr

May

21 Incidents

Babil 12

Gunfire 12

37 Killed

123 Wounded

Jurf al-Sakhr 3

Basra 4

Bombs/IEDs 2

1 Soldier

2 Police

Abu Kaseeb 2

Wasit 2

Car Bombs 2

1 Soldier

Basra 2

Karbala

Sticky Bombs 2

Hillah 2

Maysan

Grenade

Jbalah 2

Qadisiyah

Mortar

Albu Mustafa

Roadside Bomb

Alexandria

Suicide Bomber

Amarah

Askheri

Aziziya

Diwaniya

Karbala

Kut

Musayab

June

24 Incidents

Babil 17

Car Bombs 7

37 Killed

134 Wounded

Hillah 4

Basra 3

Gunfire 7

3 Soldiers

Jurf al-Sakhr 4

Wasit 2

IEDs 4

2 Police

Basra 3

Dhi Qar

Roadside Bombs 2

Jbalah 3

Najaf

Sticky Bombs 2

Kut 2

Suicide Bomber

Musayab 2

Alexandria

Aziziya

Iskandiriya

Mahawil

Najaf

Nasiriyah

From July onward the insurgency picked up the pace of its
operations. There were 31 incidents in July, 40 in August, 34 in September, 25
in October, and eight from November 1 to 11. 76 of those were in Babil, again
focusing upon the north of the province. Basra came in second with 25 attacks,
followed by Wasit, 12, Dhi Qar, 9, Karbala, 5, Maysan, Muthanna, and Qadisiyah
with two each, and Wasit. Najaf was the only governorate that did not witness
an attack from July to November. The trend of coordinated attacks by AQI
continued. On July 2 there were car bombings in Muthanna, Maysan, and Basra, along with Tamim, Ninewa, Baghdad, Diyala, and Anbar that left
a total of 62 fatalities. There was also a wave of car bombings across the
south on July 14 with Basra, Nasiriyah, Karbala, Kut, and
Jbalah all being hit leaving 24 killed and 82 wounded. July 29 saw vehicle
delivered bombings in Kut, Basra, and Samawa. August 10 in
Nasiriyah, Karbala, and Musayab witnessed five car bombs. August
20 had six car bombs go off in Amarah, Qaryah Asriya, and Nasiriyah. August 24 there were 4 such bombings in Mahawil, Musayab, Mashroa, and Tunis in Babil. September 15 Hillah, Iskandiriya, Swayra, Nasiriyah, Basra, and Karbala all had car bombs go off. Finally on October
13 Hillah, Basra, Kut, Swayra, Rumaitha, and Diwaniya were
all bombed. All of these attacks highlighted the fact that AQI has built up
networks that can hit not only the south, but urban centers up and down the
country at the same time. That required a high level of advanced planning,
intelligence, and factories to produce the car bombs. These waves of attacks
have also come with increasing frequency as the insurgency has taken off since
the summer.

Security Incidents
Jul.-Nov 2013 Southern Iraq

Month

City & # of Incidents

Province & # of Incidents

Type of Attack/#

Killed

Wounded

July

31 Incidents

Babil 10

Car Bombs 19

60 Killed

211 Wounded

Basra 6

Basra 10

Gunfire 8

5 Police

1 Soldier

Kut 5

Wasit 5

Bombs/IEDs 6

Hillah 3

Dhi Qar

Sticky Bombs 2

Jbalah 3

Karbala

Suicide Bombers 2

Jurf al-Sakhr 2

Maysan

Samawa 2

Muthanna

Abu Kaseeb

Wasit

Alexandria

Amarah

Essaouira

Hartha

Karbala

Musayab

Nasiriyah

Qibla

Zubayr

August

40 Incidents

Babil 27

Car Bombs 18

41 Killed

178 Wounded

Jurf al-Sakhr 6

Dhi Qar 5

Gunfire 9

3 Soldiers

6 Soldiers

Hillah 4

Basra 3

Mortar 5

5 Police

Musayab 4

Wasit 2

Bombs/IEDs 4

Nasiriyah 4

Karbala

Sticky Bombs 3

Alexandria 3

Maysan

Roadside Bombs 2

Basra 3

Kidnapping

Mahawil 2

Albu Mustafa

Aldawayah

Amarah

Azraq

Essaouira

Hamza al-Gharbi

Al-Iza

Karbala

Mashroa

Mustafa

Qaryah Asriya

Swayra

Tunis

September

34 Incidents

Babil 22

Gunfire 14

117 Killed

74 Wounded

Jurf al-Sakhr 8

Basra 7

Car Bombs 9

5 Police

Basra 7

Wasit 2

Bombings/IEDs 2

4 Soldiers

Musayab 5

Dhi Qar

Sticky Bombs 2

Hillah 4

Karbala

Mortar

Iskandiriya 2

Roadside Bomb

Swayra 2

Stabbing

Ajresh

Suicide Bomber

Jbalah

Karbala

Mahawil

Nasiriyah

October

25 Incidents

Babil 13

Car Bombs 13

66 Killed

88 Wounded

Hillah 5

Basra 3

Gunfire 12

6 Police

6 Police

Jurf al-Sakhr 4

Wasit 3

IED

Basra 3

Dhi Qar 2

Kidnapping

Kut 2

Karbala

Mortar

Musayab 2

Muthanna

Sticky Bomb

Ahrar

Qadisiyah

Diwaniya

Iskandiriya

Karbala

Nasiriyah

Rumaitha

Swayra

Thawra

November

8 Incidents

Babil 4

Car Bombs 4

10 Killed

17 Wounded

1-11

Abu Kaseeb

Basra 2

IEDs 2

3 Soldiers

Basra

Karbala

Gunfire

2 Sons of Iraq

Diwaniya

Qadisiyah

Mortar

Fadhiliya

Roadside Bomb

Jurf al-Sakhr

Sticky Bomb

Hillah

Karbala

Musayab

Despite the increasing violence much of the south has been
left untouched. If Babil was not included only 23 cities across nine
governorates saw attacks this year. Basra was the most violent with 30
incidents in 2013, and not all of those were by the insurgents as Shiites have
also retaliated against Sunnis in the city. After that Kut, 15, Karbala, 10,
Nasiriyah, 8, Diwaniya, 5, and Swayra in Wasit, 4, saw the most incidents. Baghdad
in comparison might see 5-10 attacks in just one day. Outside of those big southern
cities however there were no shootings or bombings. Even urban centers like
Najaf have only seen explosions twice this year. That means most of the 12
million people that live in the south have not been witness to any of these
incidents. That is what is missed in all the press reports on the attacks in
Iraq. One half of the country is not experiencing what governorates like
Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Salahaddin, Tamim, and Ninewa are going through. People
in the south are largely going about their business, going to school, and
living their lives despite the best attempts of militants.

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Musings On Iraq was started in 2008 to explain the political, economic, security and cultural situation in Iraq via original articles and interviews. If you wish to contact me personally my email is: motown67@aol.com